Define ''small house''. A 1000 sf 2 bedroom retiree house that would never have a family? A bit larger 1200 sf young family first home?

It is never wise to eliminate the only tub in any house that will ever have children in it. Especially for an uber expensive luxury shower that adds 10K to an already not cheap average 16K full bath renovation.

When remodeling I had the tub (I never used) removed and a curb-less, walk-in shower built. The bathroom floor and walls are tiled from floor up about 2/3s of the way up and about 3/4 of the way up on three sides of the shower. The subfloor was double skinned - first skin, then shower drain installed, then second skin and finally the tile and grout so that the entire (small) bathroom is waterproofed. My choice to have a curb-less shower was made for several reasons: 1) It's easier to clean; 2) I don't plan to move and thinking ahead to my older years a walk-in shower without floor barriers makes sense to me; and, 3) using an extra-long shower curtain on a spring tensioned rod from BB&B gives the small bathroom a more open feeling as I tuck the shower curtain behind the grab bar which runs the length of the shower against the back wall when not using the shower. Initially I thought if I didn't like the walk-in shower I could replace it with a new tub. Fortunately, the walk-in shower works for me. And, yes, this is the only bathroom in my small house.